Sarah Bowen, a professor at the University of Alberta and expert on access to health care for under served populations, believes that language is the most important barrier preventing some immigrants form staying healthy.

“It’s useful to disaggregate and say how much of your health problem is because you’re new to the country and you don’t know how things work, or because you’re a refugee and were raped in a camp, and how much is because you just can’t communicate what your needs are?” says Bowen. “If people can speak for themselves, we’ve got the basis to start dealing with the other pieces.”

Statistics Canada surveys show most immigrants arrive in Canada speaking either English or French, and Census data says 98 per cent of Canadians speak one or other of the official languages, but it’s not clear exactly how well those languages are being spoken or understood.